Phase 1 work will focus on areas of the building that most urgently need attention and will include a new wood shingle roof, abatement of mold and mildew, improved drainage, replacement of the basement floor slab, raising the building to make the basement usable, and repair or modification to the parsonage.
The production was the brainchild of local actor Levi Joseph who directed it and played James Baldwin, the distinguished black writer and social critic. Donations collected at the door for the one-time performance benefitted the restoration of the Clinton A.M.E. Zion Church, the same church W.E.B. Du Bois attended as a boy.
Great Barrington native and African-American author, scholar and civil rights leader W.E.B. Du Bois attended the church as a child. The church is registered as an important site on the Upper Housatonic Valley African American Heritage Trail and on the National Register of Historic Places.
